andrew scott jensen

I love this game so much more!
I say this because I can look back at where this game took me this year.  This great game took me all across North America, introducing me to amazing people and places that I’ll never forget.  When I sit and take it all in, I can’t help but fall in love with this game even more.

Wedge play is almost everything!

I’ve learned that next to putting, how I hit my wedges really determines how well I’ll score.  The best players in the world patiently wait for the chances to get wedges in their hands.  They think like this because they have so much confidence that these clubs will put the ball close to the hole and an almost certain up and down.  I’ve never worked so much on my wedges.  I’m getting so much closer to that point where I’m so confident in an up and down from inside 120 yards.  It’s great to have that confidence.  Being able to rely on your wedge play is great.  Great wedge play can save poor driving and also reward good driving of the ball.  As an amateur with a wedge in my hand, I knew that I’d hit it close half the time and make half the putts, adding up to 1 in 4 birdies with a wedge in hand.  I need to work my way to the level where every wedge is inside 15 feet and then most of the putts can drop, adding up to 3 in 4 birdies.  That’s 2 strokes a round, and over 4 rounds, that the difference between winning and finishing 30th.

Putting is everything!

I learned this year, that if I can’t make putts, I can’t compete.  Most guys out there hit the ball the same, but it’s the guy that makes the most putts that wins.  Even more, the guys who make the most putts week after week, reach higher levels of competition.  Putting is what makes or breaks a tournament.  If you can make putts, you can turn a round of poor ball striking into a reasonable score.  If you can make putts, you can turn a round of solid ball striking into a very low score.  Having said that, if you putt well, you will keep yourself in the tournament; if not, you will have the weekends off.

How can I make more putts?  I’ve learned that it’s all mental.  Essentially, it breaks down to caring less about making the putts, and more about giving yourself the best chance at making putts.  There is a proper way to think that allows the mind to free up and thus free up the stroke,  giving putts a better chance at finding the bottom of the cup.  The more your putts have a chance, the higher the odds that some will fall.

I’m taking this into the off season.  I’m planning on working very hard on my mental approach to putting.  If I can continue improving, I will become a better putter and be giving myself better chances to make putts.

I sit here, reflecting upon the season that was my first trek on the Canadian Tour.  This reflecting started on the drive home from my last event, and is now finally finding it’s way out of my head and onto the page.

There are many things that took place this year.  Some things very memorable, some very forgettable.  Through it all, everything came together for an experience I will forever cherish.  This year was the first time in my life that I could blatantly see myself ‘growing up’ every day.

The recurring theme of the year was trying to learn from every experience out on tour.  I learned so much about my game, my emotions, my personality, my relationships, my drive, my work ethic, just to name a few.

I will use this blog as a way to express what I learned on my rookie year as a professional golfer.  I’m planning on posting something new every day.  Every day for the days to come will have a new post on something that I learned this year

Well, today went terrible.  I shot a disgusting 82.  I was a train wreck out there.  The most angry I have ever been on a golf course in years.  I couldn’t help but focus on all the negatives out there, it was painful.

I thought I was over my poor mind frame yesterday afternoon.  Even on the range this morning I felt confident that it would be a good day.

The minute the gun went, and the pressure set in, all I could do was stumble.  I have no excuses or explanations for why this has happened.  I’m now left trying to put the pieces back together.

I feel so lost but at the same time more motivated than ever before.

This is like nothing I have ever been through in my life.  Not just this tournament, but this entire year.  It has been the most exciting and the most mentally demanding experience I can name.  I’ve loved ever minute of it, but I’m also so frustrated with how the whole year beat me up pretty bad.

It seemed that every week I had to dig deep to pull the small positives from the mess of negatives.  This is not the best thing in the world to do week after week.  All the weeks of digging deep have come to a head this week.  I though this week would have been much better, I’m now forced to dig deeper than ever before to rise from the disappointment of this week and year for that matter.

I’m so motivated to work so damn hard on getting out of this rut.  All I want to do is compete.  This has been my life long dream, and there’s no way I’ll let this rough year prove stronger than me.

I realize that I don’t have anything secured for 2009, and it’s scary.  Having no schedule set will make it very difficult to find the finances to play next year; again, that’s very scary.

I plan on taking a few weeks off to recharge my batteries.  After this small break, I plan on hitting the ground running.  I got into a PGA monday qualifier on the 29th of Sept.  I hope to prove my resilience there. After that, I would love to head down south and play as many tournaments as I can to gain experience and prepare myself for the Canadian Tour’s Q School in March.

I’m not going to let this week slow me down.  I’m driven to go out tomorrow and prove to myself that I can still play and still focus on hitting good golf shots.

I have a goal set in place of the PGA Tour.  I never expected this year to be so difficult, but that doesn’t change my goal.  I’m going to react to this speed bump and keep working towards my dream.

I sit here; two rounds into fall Q school, and I’m reeling from my play.  I have had nothing resembling mental strength so far.  My focus has been terrible.  I am focusing on all the wrong things when trying to hit a shot.  The result is; you guessed it, bad golf shots.

I fired 77-76, and find myself well back of a potential card for 2009.

I’ve hit the wall, I’m very confused and lost with regards of what to do.  This is not a fun place to be.  I haven’t given up, I understand in 2 rounds I can play well and get myself back on tour next year.  It’s just the other thought that is looming in my head.  If I don’t play myself onto tour next year, what will I do??

It sucks!  Thinking like this is awful.  There is more out there than just this Q school, but right now I’m having a hard time looking past it.  I’m trying everything I can this afternoon to dig deep and motivate myself to rise to this challenge.  I know it’s possible, and I can vividly imagine how great it will feel to accomplish this feat.  These are the thoughts keeping me going.

Like I said, the other side of the spectrum scares me.  I’m scared to not get my card, I’m scared that I won’t have what it takes to compete anywhere next year, I’m scared that not competing next year will be the end of the dream. I’m certainly battling some demons this week, and it’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced.  I can’t say I enjoy it, but I’m still embracing it for the growth that will come from it.

I will more than likely be off early tomorrow morning.  I’ve got a good friend of mine picking up my bag for the next two rounds.  Dean plays out on tour and I’ve gotten to know him very well this year.   He is very excited to team with me and get the job done in the next two rounds.  I’m counting on having him with me to help me pick some targets and stay focused and committed to them.

All of this struggling reminds me of the core principle of Vision 54: “ imagine the impossible, and then find a way to make it happen”.  Some might say it will be impossible for me to climb my way back to life this week.  In the face of that thought, I’ll hold on to Vision 54, and be very optimistic about the next two rounds; so optimistic, that even my score of 290 last year can be matched(do the math…)

I’ll be back tomorrow, to post on how round 3 went.

So the season has ended.  I’m really sad that it has, but I’m excited for what the off season will bring.  As for the final round of the Tour Championship; I played better in the rain, but a lapse in thought on 17 resulted in a triple and then a bogey on 18, and I finished with a lack luster 77.  On a day of high scoring, 72-73 would have moved me up the board.  That didn’t happen and I feel to last place.  Another day to chalk up to experience.

As you can imagine, I didn’t win enough money this year to retain my status for 2009.  I have to go back to Q School at Royal Ashburn next week.  This wasn’t what I planned for a year ago, but I’m making the best of it.  I’m so excited to go back there and play great.  I’m excited to play better than last year and get my card for 2009.

I’ll be leaving on Sunday while the tournament starts Monday.  I feel good about my game and my head.  I’m working hard this off week to prepare myself for the 72 hole grind of Q School.  I had so much fun last year, I can’t wait to relive it.  I hope that this will be the last time that I relive the Canadian Tour Q School experience.

After Q School, my schedule is very empty, which is a welcome change.  All I have is lots of planning to do.  It’s both exciting and intimidating trying to figure out what will be the best off season schedule for me.  I need to figure what will improve my game and give me that best chance at being competitive out on Tour in 2009.

I’ll keep you posted on how it goes at Q School.  I will also be putting together a piece of  the major things I learned this year.  I plan on getting that online in the week following Q School.

It’s Saturday night in Barrie, and I’m thankful to say that I played today and will be playing tomorrow.  Unfortunately, I played awful today and will consequently be playing in the first group out tomorrow morning.

Getting into the weekend was very solid.  I hit the ball very average in the first round but managed to salvage and even par 72.  On Friday I hit the ball great.  I had a very steady round going where I was 2 under through 14 holes.  Unfortunately, the last four holes we played in near darkness to get the round completed.  Those four holes went great tee to green, but I could not see well enough on the greens to properly read my putts.  I had 8 feet, 12 feet, 10 feet, and 4 feet for birdie on the last four holes.  Not one of those putts touched the hole thanks to my inability to read putts at dusk.

I was sitting in 25 place going into the weekend at 2 under par.  Only sitting 3 strokes out of my desired 11th place finish to retain my card, it was looking good.

Having said that, today was an awful day.  I hit lots of fairways, but could not for the life of me even sniff a green.  I putted fine but it wasn’t enough to save my awful iron play.  I carded a disastrous 80 and fell to 6over and in second last.

Tomorrow, I intend to go out early and play well and truly bounce back from this fluke of a round today.

On a side note:

Tonight is a sad night, it’s my last night out on the road with the Canadian Tour.  Looking back, this has been the time of my life.  I have had so much fun and truly wish it didn’t have to end.  I understand it will start again next year, but it will be a challenge to get back into my routine back home, and get into a routine without the good friends I have made out here.  I am reflecting a lot, and I will be sure to enjoy tomorrow’s round no matter what.  I will write more on the great experience this tour has been in the coming weeks.

I’m in Barrie this week for the final event of the year, the Tour Championship.

It’s exciting to compete in this event because it’s not open to every player.  The course is a great McBroom course that reminds me of both Camelot and The Hunt.  The green complexes are very very similar to mine back home, I’m excited to putt on something that I’m so comfortable on.

As for last week; it was another unfortunate missed cut.  Once again, my putter let me down.  I hit the ball okay the first round but couldn’t make anything to save a respectable score.  The second round was a clinic on ball striking.  I missed 2 fairways and 2 greens, and was hitting it inside 20 feet on every hole.  I could only manage a 2 under 69 thanks to an ice cold putter.

I realized that it has been my mental approach that is causing the missed putts.  I’ve been doing a lot of work this week, and I’m trusting that the comfort I’m finding on these greens will allow me to keep to this new mental approach with the putter.

This is a big week, a week were my lack-luster season can be made into a great one.  If I finish at least 11th place this week, I will have more than likely salvaged my playing privileges for next year.

This is a very similar position I was in last year at Q School.  I’m hoping that I can duplicate the accomplishment of last September by rising to the challenge and locking up my card for 2009.

Here’s to a great week…